Search This Blog

Cleaning Queen

I have a cleaner lined up! Whilst cleaning green algae off the bath about ten days ago, I decided that something had to change. Given that I may be increasing my paid working hours again this year, whatever didn't work last year was unlikely to miraculously work this year.

So H, our new cleaner, is coming to see the house on Saturday (and possibly starting the job on Monday) and I have been working hard to create floor space so she can clean effectively and also a reasonable enough impression so she even agrees to clean the house. The rubbish bin is full, the recycling bin is full, I've been to the Sallies with more bags of goodies and there is another at the door for tomorrow, I've gifted more clothes and craft items to local acquaintances with younger children, and there is still more to do. Still, p-r-o-g-r-e-s-s is distinctly obvious.

I didn't quite fit in supercooking today as well as supercleaning, but I did buy up terakihi and turbot at the fish shop and now I have five bags of fish in the freezer, neatly labelled with the fish type, date and weight of the bag. Because my planning habits had become so out of whack, it has been increasingly frequent that I need to go shopping before I cook most nights. Stocking up our little freezer, gifted to us by Mary when she moved to a rest home this time last year, is a useful start towards effective meal planning.

In the middle of the afternoon, we said goodbye to Sandra-the-super-cleaner for a while and went down to the local swimming pool. The kids got so hungry that we drove home, ordered pizza online straight away (much cheaper than purchasing over the counter) and ate it long before conventional persons eat their dinner. At bedtime we started the book I bought Brighid on my Nelson holiday, A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I loved The Secret Garden as a child, but had never read A Little Princess. Not far into the story, Mr Big Ten Year Old had been intrigued by what he heard down the hallway and came down to join us. Three persons snuggled into a single bed for storytime is a squash as they get bigger, but it was the loveliest time. I've promised to read them some more in the morning. We can, because it is still school holidays and we need to hold on to that specialness and use it as much as we possibly possibly possibly can.

Get link

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Google+

Email

Comments

Supercooking is not my forte either, but I have just discovered a wonderful tool. And given that I'd rather be researching recipes than actually cooking them, this is a win-win. It's an App called Paprika. You load recipes onto it (either directly off the web with one click of your mouse or by typing in your own recipes) One goal is to rid my kitchen of tatty A4 sheets of printed recipes that I can never find when I want to replicate something that worked. If a recipe I've chosen is no good we'll just delete it, if it is a winner it will be given up to five stars.But the bigger goal is to use the app to plan meals - you just drag a recipe onto the calendar and hey presto you know what's for dinner. Recipe is right there, complete with scaling function (if your kids can't be bothered doing the maths when they are cooking)and ticking-off-steps-capability (that is fantastic for those with dyslexia). But best of all, the recipes will stay there and this time next year I can just bring up the menu from this year and make a few tweaks if necessary! I'm being very particular about using recipes that are seasonal so this will work.Best $7.95 I've spent all year. I'm already loving the empty drawer in the kitchen where recipes used to live.

Popular posts from this blog

On Thursday just gone, it was the West Coast Schools' kapa haka festival. I rearranged my work hours, took my girl out of school, and we headed south for the day to watch Fionn perform. It was totally fantastic. Fionn's school group put on a top notch performance which we were all very proud of.

Afterwards, while the students had their hangi lunch and played special games and the judges deliberated, Brighid and I had lunch together in the metropolis and walked along the beach, pictured above and below.
Beautiful huh?

Today was the Anglican Church Fair. It's an important event on our calendar. Six years ago, when we'd just moved into our first home and there was no lounge furniture and no money to buy anything flash, we went to our this fair. We still have the couch and chairs from that fair, at a combined cost of less than $50. These days, we buy some sausages, a couple of bowls, sometimes some books or clothes. Today I bought my first whitebait sandwich of t…

This is my second version of the Sewaholic Nicola pattern and I love it. My first version is here. This time, there is no bra showing, and I'm really happy with the fit. I adore the fabric. If I was a dedicated blogger, I would have had a shower, done my hair and moved the photo shoot down to the beach. I'm not, though there is a slew of pictures/posts coming because I did persuade my husband to photograph various recent makes. I don't have a lot to say about this make, as the changes from the first make are documented in the first version. I did learn a lot from making this dress, and am even feeling like I might be an intermediate sewist rather than an advanced beginner now that I can do yokes, collars and buttonholes. I've discovered that I can put this on over my head without recourse to the buttons, which is useful in a hurry. It does require ironing but I think it's worth it in order to wear such lovely fabric. I don't know if I will make it ag…